Each person who needs medical care has their own history, character traits, and personal preferences. This is why someone who needs long-term ventilator support needs more than help with breathing. In addition to treating their breathing issues, they require a personalized care plan that takes into account their individual needs and preferences and offers them the greatest possible mental, physical, and emotional assistance.
What Is Personalized Long-term Ventilator Care?
The main idea behind a personalized ventilator care plan is that no two patients are the same. Each patient, even with the same medical condition, has different personal preferences, history, and physical and emotional needs. A personalized care plan is based on the unique medical, physical, mental, and emotional needs of each resident.
An individualized care plan may consider:
- Ventilator support and respiratory requirements
- Nutritional needs of each resident
- What their physicians recommended
- Physicians’ recommended Medication schedule
- Mobility assistance requirement
- Personal preferences like hobbies and interests
- Level of emotional well-being
- Communication and involvement of friends and family
Based on the above factors, an individual ventilator care plan is prepared by a team that includes physicians, therapists, and nursing staff.
Individualized Ventilator Care Begins With Getting to Know Each Resident
At Better Options, personalized care starts with listening. Our team works closely with the newly joined resident, their family members, and physicians. We collect details about the resident’s medical history, daily routines, personal preferences, and their medical and ventilator needs. We organize and process this data to create a personalized care plan for the resident that supports their health and quality of life.
Personal Preferences of Residents With Ventilator Support
Along with medical history and respiratory requirements, we also collect some personal details such as:
- What are the preferred bedtime and wake-up routines?
- Details of favorite music and TV programs
- Any hobbies and interests?
- What colors and shades do they like for the room decoration?
- What are their communication preferences?
- Details about spiritual and cultural traditions
- Do they have any favorite family activities?
- How do they want to celebrate their parties, such as birthdays, anniversaries, etc?
- Any special decorations or arrangements they want in their rooms?
- Details about favorite foods and foods they don’t like
All these details really help us to create a familiar, respectful, and comfortable environment for the resident.
Comfort Through Familiar Daily Routines
A resident with long-term ventilator support gets more comfort, stability, and reassurance by maintaining their familiar daily routines. We encourage our residents to follow the daily routine according to their care plan for better results and early weaning. All daily activities, such as wake-up schedule, meal timing, relaxing with music or reading books, and spending time with friends & family, keep the resident busy and relaxed. Consistency in doing all daily activities at their proper times reduces unnecessary stress and promotes both physical and emotional health.
Personalized Care Plan Based on Medical Condition of Resident
Each resident with mechanical ventilator support has their own unique medical history. Some common medical conditions where long-term breathing assistance may be required include COPD, ALS, Spinal Cord Injury, Muscular Dystrophy, or brain injury, etc. The medical and ventilator support needs of each resident become different due to their different medical problems. A personalized care plan specifically focuses on fulfilling these specific medical and ventilator needs.
Personalized Ventilator Settings
The care plan outlines recommended ventilator settings for each resident, such as:
- Ventilator Mode (AC, CMV, SIMV, PSV, CPAP, etc)
- Tidal volume and respiratory rate
- Settings for Oxygen concentration (21% to 100%)
- Humidifier settings (37°C for invasive and 28°C-32°C for invasive)
- Alarm Triggers
Personalized Medical, Nutrition and Mobility Support
Based on the recommendations of therapists, physicians, and nursing staff, the care plan includes specific guidelines for:
- Medical management
- Mobility Assistance
- Respiratory Support
- Ventilator Monitoring
- Personal Care and Hygiene
- Nutritional Support
- Continuous monitoring, recording, and reporting changes
This person-centered approach helps residents receive the support they need while preserving dignity and independence whenever possible.
Addressing Specific Nutrition and Hydration Requirements of Each Resident
The nutrition and hydration requirements of each resident are different based on their age, body weight, mobility level, medical condition, and metabolic rate, etc. It is also important to consider whether the patient needs a feeding tube or not.
A personalized nutrition care plan is prepared to make sure the required calorie intake is met with a balanced diet that includes required supplements. The diet of each resident is prepared based on their taste, likes, and dislikes.
Role of Family in Personalized Care of Ventilator-Dependent Patients
The role of family is an important part of the personalized care plan of ventilator-dependent patients. Regular communication with friends and family keeps residents encouraged and motivated and supports early recovery. Family members also help us prepare a customized care plan for residents because they know the residents’ nature, tastes, likes and dislikes, personality, and past traumas better.
At Better Options, we encourage family members to:
- Help us prepare a customized care plan for residents
- Regularly visit the resident and contact them through audio/video calls
- Share memories and photographs
- Celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays with residents
- Talk to residents and take their opinions on family matters
- Watch favorite TV shows and music together
Personalized Long-term Ventilator Care By Better Options Ventilator Specialty Care
If you’re looking for the best long-term ventilator care in a home-like environment, Better Options Ventilator Specialty Care is here to help. Call us today at (360) 944-4471 or contact us online to learn more about our individualized approach to care.
